Minnesota Twins 3 Up, 3 Down: Mitch Garver continues to stay hot

DOWN: The Twins Defense

Perhaps this is nit-picking, but when you have the best record in baseball, it’s hard to find three things that are down with the club each week (especially ones that aren’t relief pitchers). This week, the Twins defense was worthy of being put in the down column despite being solid all year long.

In a loss to the Mariners last Wednesday, the Twins mounted a valiant comeback only to kick the ball around in the top of the 10th inning. Garver couldn’t make the catch on a routine force play at home and Miguel Sano botched a hot liner before throwing it as hard as he could into the netting along the first base line on the way to a 9-6 defeat.

In Sunday’s game, the poor defense showed up again as Eddie Rosario misplayed a line drive and Sano uncorked another wild throw to lead two runs score in the top of the seventh inning. Mike Morin would add an error of his own, missing first base on a force play that would allow another run to score as the Twins suffered an 8-6 defeat.

Perhaps this is just a bad stretch of games as the Twins have been sure handed for a majority of the season. But, as the games continue to become more important, mistakes like these can make the difference between a contender and one that has an early exit come October.